Not just for young people and school groups: A&O is a hotel and hostel company rolled into one

Orange or blue, that is the question: all A&O hotels can be booked 'orange' as a hostel – where you bring your own sleeping bag and stay in multi-bed rooms – or 'blue' as a two-star hotel. Whichever you choose, the stay will always be affordable and all A&Os are centrally located.

The accommodation is popular with backpackers and young people. But in recent years, A&O has increasingly widened its appeal to other target groups. The unique concept of hostel and hotel under one roof and the central locations have won over lots of people. What's more, A&O has broadened the scope of its facilities since being founded.

Families, for example, can now benefit from more than just low rates. Generously sized family rooms offer lots of space, and children aged 17 or under can stay for free in their parents' room. The little ones can romp in well-equipped play areas.

Thanks to their city-centre locations, A&O hotels are also popular with business travellers. Rooms have Wi-Fi as standard and the closest train station is never far away. Seminar rooms and off-the-peg packages are available for conferences, and can be booked at affordable rates with or without accommodation.

Guests with restricted mobility will find rooms with disabled access in most A&O hotels.

In 2000 the first A&O Hotel and Hostel opened in Berlin-Friedrichshain offering 164 beds. Today the company has more than 8,000 beds in 17 locations. Besides Berlin there are hotels and hostels in Dortmund, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich and Nuremberg. Most offer a 24-hour reception, a large breakfast buffet and high standards of safety.